1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to food preparation appliances in general, and more particularly to a food preparation appliance for cutting food items, preferable those with a generally spherical shape into two portions, with the cut surface of each portion being of a fanciful and pleasing design. The food preparation appliance of this invention makes it possible for an unskilled person to cut generally spherical fruits or vegetables, such as oranges, into two portions, with the complementary cut surfaces of each portion having fanciful and pleasing profiles. Once set up for a particular size of fruit or vegetable, a large number of the fruits or vegetables can be quickly prepared with uniform results.
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
It has long been the custom to cut generally spherical food items such as oranges or lemons in half, the cut surface being of a fanciful design such as might be described as sawtoothed, notched or wavy. The cutting of fruits and vegetables to produce a decoratively cut edge has in the past been accomplished by hand. However, a considerable degree of manual dexterity and experience is required to produce attractively cut fruits and vegetables at an acceptable rate. While a person with a high degree of skill might be able to render such a fanciful design with an ordinary knife, even a skilled person would spent considerable time in preparing each individual fruit or vegetable. Fruits and vegetables can be severed into two portions having complementary decoratively cut edges by use of specifically shaped knife blades. For instance, the use of a V-shaped knife blade provides a serrated edge. Devices have been disclosed in the past to simplify the preparation of food items in this manner by providing specially designed cutting implements and cutting guides. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,482,735--Catsules reveals a kitchen utensil comprising an expansible ring having a fancy edge which is intended for use with a knife having an edge conforming in shape to the edge of the ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,680--de la Cruz et al. reveals a fruit cutter having a base supporting a stand for a cup which supports the fruit. The rim of the cup is provided with cutaway sections which are engaged by a detent ball of a marker which is also supported by a stand projecting from the base. The base is also provided with a stand which supports a knife for reciprocal movement into and out of the fruit. A plurality of V-shaped knife blades of varying sizes are provided to accommodate fruits of varying sizes. In order to cut a fruit with this cutter, it is necessary to first adjust the heights of the stands for the marker and the knife to accommodate the fruit to be cut, and to choose a V-shaped knife blade of appropriate size. With the detent ball engaged in a cutaway section, the V-shaped knife blade is moved into the fruit to cut it and then extracted. The fruit cup is then rotated to engage the detent ball in another cutaway section, and another cut is made in the fruit by the V-shaped knife blade. This process of alternately positioning the fruit cup and cutting the fruit is repeated until the fruit is cut into two pieces.